Category Archives: Neil Turitz

A movie about a superhero could end up leading to enormous change in this country, and by extension the world, simply because it empowers people to get involved, many of whom have felt disenfranchised that their voice, and their vote, doesn’t really count,” writes Neil Turitz.

“You have to wonder if these Netflix numbers are, in a sense, an effort by Nielsen to justify its own continued existence. All the way back to 1950, the Nielsen company has tracked TV viewership, and has become synonymous with the medium. But as that medium changes, the company has struggled to keep up,” writes Neil Turitz.

“If we’re using Jodie Foster’s metaphor, and Black Panther is part of the theme park that Hollywood has become, then it’s one of the best rides — the kind that leaves you wanting more,” writes Neil Turitz.

“It’s not the most ridiculous idea that Sony would go looking for more comic book IP, but the way it’s going about it is what feels so misguided, and until someone explains to me the value of an IP that has no popular recognition, I will continue to be baffled,” writes Neil Turitz.

With a clever marketing campaign that perhaps distributed DNA and paternity tests to people, thus getting them talking and maybe even laughing, the studio behind Father Figures might’ve had a conversation starter on its hands, rather than an underwhelming movie,” writes Neil Turitz.

“According to the [Jean-Pierre Jeunet], Guillermo Del Toro’s brilliant tour de force that is The Shape of Water — my favorite film this year and, it would appear, the prime Oscar frontrunner — contains a blatant rip-off of Jeunet’s work, and it’s all trés scandaleux,” writes Neil Turitz.

“It also was that rare moment when Netflix actually spent some serious money to push one of its movies, which might just suggest a change in thinking for the streaming service. That being the spending of money to do any marketing at all,” writes Neil Turitz.

“DMG boss Dan Mintz has no interest in comic book publishing. He sees it as a sort of ghetto art, and is focused solely on turning the company into an output factory for the big and small screens, rather than focusing on the publishing entity that gave the company its value in the first place,” writes Neil Turitz.

“It’s almost subversive, the way that the Akils and fellow EP Greg Berlanti have so deftly disguised such a hard-hitting and political series as a mere superhero piece, utilizing the conventions of the genre to progress a much more powerful message,” writes Neil Turitz.

“I’ve spoken to a few people who don’t believe that Maria Contreras-Sweet and her team will be able to pull it off, but the industry will be behind her, as there’s nothing that Hollywood loves more than a happy ending,” writes Neil Turitz.

“I am all for the #MeToo movement, and firmly believe that it’s long overdue, but when the awards that are supposed to be about the films and the artists who make them instead become about other things entirely, then we’re losing something in the process,” writes Neil Turitz.

“The three big companies being bandied about are the reconstituted CBS-Viacom, Verizon, and Amazon. Each has its pros and cons, but to me, only one of them is truly the right fit. So let’s take a look at each and examine why they are or are not Cinderella’s slipper,” writes Neil Turitz.

“Selling a cinematic property to a buyer who has no chance of recouping an investment. These kinds of things happen all day every day here, and this is just the most obvious and blatant one this week,” writes Neil Turitz.

“Life would be just a wee bit better if these shows found a home at a streaming service that isn’t too enamored with the future of content to forget about the classics of the past,” writes Neil Turitz.

“The longer Apple waits to reveal the specifics of its distribution plan, the more the company risks getting the short end of the stick from both the creative community, and audiences who will have already committed their annual entertainment budget elsewhere,” writes Neil Turitz.

“I’ve seen an alarming number of complaints from paid subscribers who either did not receive their cards in a timely fashion, or received inoperable cards. MoviePass also has an issue with customer service, in that it appears to be basically nonexistent,” writes Neil Turitz.

The studio’s movies grossed $5.1 billion worldwide in 2017, but when you’re spending over $4 billion to accomplish that, and you have significant money losers like King Arthur and Geostorm sprinkled in among the smash hits, you’re simply not doing as well as you could,” writes Neil Turitz.

“As many new subscribers might have signed up for Netflix to watch Bright, and who might now stick around and become paying customers, more money would be made by putting its sequel into theaters either as part of a day-and-date release, or three works before releasing it on the streaming service,” writes Neil Turitz.

“There is a case to be made that movie studios should be decried for trying to profit off of real-life tragedies, but movies and television shows based on devastating true events have been a mainstay of pop culture for 100 years. You wouldn’t tell Steven Spielberg not to make Schindler’s List, or Paul Greengrass not to make United 93, would you?

The first real sleeper of early 2018 may be Clint Eastwood’s thriller The 15:17 to Paris, which chronicles the true story of three American soldiers who prevented a terrorist attack on a train. The best part? The main roles are filled by the real heroes, playing themselves. The question is whether real heroes can compete with superheroes at the box office.

“The simple truth of it is that network president John Landgraf is perhaps the finest, smartest, and most talented TV executive working right now. No matter how hard other networks try, it’s almost impossible to match FX/FXX’s recent record of success,” writes Neil Turitz.

Names like Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford and Jack Warner come to mind for the inaugural class, just to name five people who were integral to the birth and growth of the medium.

If Freeform’s upcoming Marvel series Cloak & Dagger hews closer to the superhero shows on Netflix and the CW, rather than sister network ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or The Inhumans, then it should be a winner when it debuts in 2018.

“People may be designing and buying Bitcoin, but the fact that it is not tangible would seem to imply that it remains open to potential sabotage, especially in a digital world without any regulation,” writes Neil Turitz.

One has to wonder if Disney is interested in spending the money required to help James Cameron see through his ambitious vision for Avatar, which has staked out four December release dates that would coincide with more than a few Star Wars films.

Despite being in fewer homes than the year before, MSNBC has seen its fortunes rise at least partially due to the election of Donald Trump. Seen by many as the network of the opposition, MSNBC has enjoyed record ratings thanks to shows led by Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes and Lawrence O’Donnell.

Five Christmas releases could be on the path to profitability right now if any of their distributors had opted to take advantage of the calm before the Star Wars storm. So why didn’t they? Neil Turitz questions Hollywood’s December release strategy in his new column.

The Tracking Board

Hollywood's premiere source for insider news and exclusives, tracking, analysis and coverage on all things film, television and entertainment. Home to the most robust spec market tracking, in development coverage, annual best lists, reviews, reports, opinions and daily news as it happens.